Paul J. Moynihan
Paul J. Moynihan of Fox Point, formerly of Shorewood and Milwaukee, died May 23, 2009.
An eternal optimist and an erudite Renaissance man, Paul drew and sculpted, loved history, recited poetry, and sang Noel Coward or Gilbert & Sullivan tunes at the slightest provocation.
His entrepreneurial spirit was evident early. While a student at Marquette High, he owned and operated the Putt Around Country Club miniature golf course in Shorewood, where he sold Christmas trees in the offseason. Those businesses helped put him through Marquette University, where he earned degrees in economics and philosophy.
After college, he served in the U.S. Army as a public information officer, and then co-founded a communications and public relations firm. He worked as a Wisconsin "advance man" for the 1960 Kennedy presidential campaign and lobbied for passage of the Wisconsin Tuition Grant Act, creating a program that exists today.
Through civic engagement, he helped organize the defeat of the proposed Park-Lake Freeway, which would have run along the Milwaukee lakefront. He chaired the Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations during the tumultuous integration of the Milwaukee Police Department in the late 1960s. He also served several terms on the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau.
His little public relations firm grew into a regional film production company, Moynihan Associates, which won numerous national awards for documentaries, training films and commercials. He stayed active in politics, directing communications for the successful campaigns of Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier, County Executive Bill O'Donnell, two U. S. congressmen and several judges. After dissolving his firm in 2001, he represented companies providing environmental mediation and recycling to the construction industry.
He is survived by his wife, Karyn (nee Buckman) Moynihan; daughter, Meg Moynihan; stepdaughter, Allison Kelsey; brother, Frank "Bud" Moynihan; sister, Jeanne Moynihan; other relatives and friends.
The funeral service was May 28. Private interment was held.
Memorials are suggested to Ruth Hospice Benevolence Fund, 8526 W. Mill Road, Milwaukee, WI 53225.
Feerick Funeral Home handled the arrangements.
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